Christmas Around the World Research Freebie!

It's that time again... CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD!!!!

I have a ton of great free and paid resources for a fun study... click the pic above to check them out!

We're using one of the freebies now... we're researching to create a brochure on holiday traditions in different countries!

Click the pic to check out the freebie!

Christmas Around the World... {Goodies and Freebies!- Blog Post Rewind!}

Click the tape to rewind and check out old posts featuring Christmas Around the World products in my shop and links to freebies in my TpT store and my class website!  Trust me... it's a treasure trove!

Blog Post Rewind- Christmas Party Ideas Freebie! {And Important File UPDATE!}

Now that Thanksgiving is done and all of the left overs have been eaten, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have been had... it's time to start planning for class Christmas parties!  If you're looking for some new ideas, check out the free classroom guide that we put together at my blog... it's full of ideas from other bloggers!

Click the tape to head to that old post and get some new ideas!

If you have any of my Christmas Around the World files... the Flippy Books all got a huge facelift about three weeks ago.  And yesterday the PowerPoints all got additional info added as well as new timings, so they play a bit slower.

Or click the pic to check them out!

You'll need to go to your purchases at TpT to re-download the updates!

Christmas Research... Creating a Brochure

We're working on a non-fiction unit in class right now and are going to have our students research holiday traditions and create a brochure.  There are spots for students to draw a diagram, add a map, write a caption, and note their sources.  I know they will LOVE making this!  I made up the brochure tonight and have posted it for free on TpT!

The week before Christmas, we'll be doing my Christmas Around the World activities, which the kiddos always enjoy.  I know they will love them even more because they'll have knowledge about other countries to contribute too!  I have TONS of Christmas Around the World freebies at my class website and in these old blog posts too!

Click the pic to check out the brochure!  {Blog FB fans... make sure you grabbed your Santa letter freebie too at the Fans page on my FB page!}

Also... don't forget to enter to win a free subscription to Flocabulary!

 

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!

I had an accomplishing day today... got to sleep in {finally!}, graded some pre-assessments, and the Lions won their game!  Yay!!!!!!!!!  You probably heard me screaming at about 4:10pm after the win.  I've calmed down since then and I am sorry for disturbing you!  And to all of the sports commentators (except Terry Bradshaw) who predicted a loss today... IN YO' FACE!  I am positive the line of sports commentators who read my blog is huge, so I am sure they will all feel put in their places over the gloating I just did.  I'm just saying.

After the win, I wanted to get some creating work done, so I finished up some updating I wanted to do on my Christmas Around the World scrapbook.  So many people downloaded it last year and so I wanted to share that it has been updated!

There are now TWO files.  One is free and it's the pack for the 8 countries that I use when I do the study- America, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Liberia (in Africa), Australia, Japan, and Germany.  You can find the FREE file HERE!

I also added some editable pages to a 2nd file.  The 2nd file contains all the same pages as the free file, plus a few more for other common countries teachers may use during the study.  There is also an editable PowerPoint file so you can add your own countries!

Both files now have a cover for "Christmas" or "Holidays" around the world and have been updated with new graphics and fonts!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!  We have a field trip tomorrow and the weather looks perfect!

Christmas Around the World Flippy Books!

Happy Monday!  Tomorrow is my last day of school for the week... hooray!  My little friends are super excited for Thanksgiving and I am too... but I'm more exciteder for CHRISTMAS!!!!

This weekend I finished a project I was working on... making flippy books for my Christmas Around the World unit!

 Find them on TpT
or on Teacher's Notebook

If you'd like a copy of them, leave a comment with your e-mail.  I'll randomly select two later on this week and send them your way!

Ho Ho Ho... already!

It's almost time to bring out these guys...  oh yeah!  LOVE them!

I'm not going to lie.  After going to Target on Friday and giddily walking through the Christmas decorations, I seriously considered putting mine up this weekend.

But... I sensibly worked on my report cards instead and, I'm happy to say, that I am done with them!  All 100+ of 'em!  Woot woot!

I can't promise that I won't put the decorations up this coming weekend... Christmas is my favorite favorite time of year and I love jazzing up my house!

I'm also excited because I'm bringing "Christmas Around the World" back to my classroom this year!  I haven't been able to do it for a few years now but I am *SO* going to be able to fit it in... only for about 25 minutes each day... but, it's BACK!

I just uploaded my free scrapbook to TpT if you'd like it!  It was a Google Doc last year, but I can't figure out a way to see the stats on how many times Google Docs are downloaded (if you know how, please share!) and I'm a freak about data and numbers, so I have to know.  Just click the pic!

Also- my students had *SO* much fun trick-or-treating for singular and plural nouns that I made a very similar file that includes irregular plurals too for us to do as a review in December!  One of my little friends was coming up with tons of game variations and holiday options for me as he was trick-or-treating for the nouns, so I knew I had to make more!  If you missed the Halloween one, check out "Fill that Stocking With Singular and Plural Nouns"!

Stay tuned tomorrow *I hope!* for an updated picture of my Daily Five board and happy news about how Daily Five is going in my class!  I'll try to tear myself away from obsessively watching election results on CNN to blog, but no promises!

Christmas Around the World...

I'm sure you're getting tired of seeing that as the title of my blog posts! ;)

I just wanted to do a quick Thursday post to say two things:

1.) I have added to the scrapbook on my site because I have gotten many requests to add additional countries. I have added the countries that I've gotten the most requests for to the file on my site. It's the "New! Updated Scrapbook" at the bottom of the page. Click the image to head over there.

2.) This is a question of logistics... so, I've also gotten requests to create additional Powerpoints... if I were to do this, should I add the "extra" Powerpoints to the bundle I already have, even though they won't match up with the unit I've created? Or does that not matter?

Thanks for your input and, hopefully, I've added the extra countries you need to make the unit what you need!

More Christmas Around the World Goodies for YOU!

First thing's first... Happy 34th Anniversary to my mom and dad! :) My mom sometimes stalks my blog, so here's a little cyber love if you're reading this!

I survived LOVED shopping yesterday on Black Friday! And, aside from a woman who wished death via a terrible car accident and a horrible Christmas upon me because she thought I *cut* her in the line (Yes, I'm serious. Hello! There were a billion people trying to squeeze in to one line... it's just called pandemonium not cutting!), I got some great deals and had a ton of fun with my friends. We left at 10pm on Thursday and I returned home at 10:30am on Friday!

So, I'm keeping that holiday spirit going and have updated two more files for my Christmas Around the World unit.

The first, which I'm totally psyched about, is a re-formatted scrapbook-esque booklet. The cover is just too stinkin' cute! Click the pic to head to my site and get your free copy!
The second file I added today is just an additional version of my Passport Labels after I received a report that the PDF file wasn't lining up correctly on Avery 8160 labels. I just put it up in WORD too, so hopefully you'll have better luck with the printing. Click the picture below to head to my site to download the WORD version if you'd like it!
That's it for Saturday. My hubby is having a guy's night, so I sense a night of DVDs and the couch for me and my dogs!

If you download the scrapbook, I'd love to know what you think. I'm pretty geeked about it! And, I'd also love to hear your Black Friday horror success stories too! Can you beat a wish of death and a horrible holiday? ;)

Christmas Around the World unit outline update and some pics to get you in the Christmas mood!

Wow- thank you so much for your great response yesterday to my request to share your favorite book titles with me! I definitely have some shopping and reading to do! I hope you will enjoy your free Chocolate Touch or My Father's Dragon unit too! If you missed the freebie, the two units are available at The Teaching Oasis. I'm finished getting them all e-mailed out but did get a few bounced back to me... so if you replied yesterday and haven't gotten yours by the end of today... you may be one of the bounce-backers! E-mail me at christina4062@hotmail.com and I'll make it right for you!

I've been working hard to update and add to my Christmas Around the World materials and so today I'm sharing the updated unit outline with you. I tried to go through a be a little more specific on some things, include authors on the books, and then address some questions too.

If you'd like a copy, click the image to head over to my website and get one! :)


Happy Tuesday... two days until Turkey Day and then... the countdown until Christmas begins!

I'm a little crazy about Christmas. My husband always says our house looks like "Santa puked", which I take as the highest of compliments! I've been working for the last week or so to get everything decorated. Yes, I know it's early... but I love it!

Here's a peek into my decorations...

So, here's our main tree! We have soooo many ornaments and most are unique. I love putting them up and revisiting memories with my husband as we decorate. We went to New York City this summer and acquired a TON of new ornaments there... it was so fun to re-live the trip as we put them on! As a kid, I had a cat tree in my room and my sister had a dog tree. I love pulling my cat ornaments out every year and putting them on the tree. Not to mention the Donald Duck one that my sister and I always vied to be the one to put it on the tree... when I moved out, he became mine and I relish hanging him up every year! ;)

And here he is now! I just love putting him in front of a light! Sorry, Michelle... maybe you didn't know, but he's mine!!!!

Our "fireplace" with mom-made stockings! For us and our dog-sons too! My stocking will have seen 31 Christmases this year! My little nativity is up there too along with my small collection of Christopher Radko ornaments.

Here's my little kitchen tree... love it!

Ahhh... my Santa mice. My husband is not a fan, but my parents have a set of these they got around the year they got married (1977) so they were in my house every year as a kid. They SCREAM "CHRISTMAS" at me. When I moved out, I struck crazy mouse gold when I found my own set on ebay! My sister was able to find a set too... so now the tradition can live on forever!

My snowflake trees!

This is the first "spin-off" tree from having an abundance of ornaments. My mother-in-law has gotten my husband a tin soldier ornament almost every year of his life, so last year we started putting them on this awesome tree that I bought at my school store for a mere $5!

This is my "clippy bird" tree. I LOVE it! I think this is my favorite tree.

I collect Rudolph things so this is a tiny portion of my Christmas village. It's made by Hawthorne Village and is just awesome! I love it!

If you made it through my post and my pics, good for you! :) Enjoy the updated Christmas Around the World unit and, if I don't blog again before then, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

New File for Christmas Around the World Freebie!

So, I'm not trying to brag (ok... I am a little!) but I am now off of school until Monday, November 28! This gives me lots of time to refresh, refocus, and work on some resources for my kiddos and maybe some things you can use for yours too!

I just added a "Traditions Tree" to my free Christmas Around the World items. We'll create a paper ornament for each place we visit, drawing or writing about how that particular country celebrates. Then we'll each create a Christmas tree with these traditions ornaments!

I included a page of blank ornaments too... if you have any ideas on how you might use those, leave me a comment below! I'd love to see what you're thinking!

When you click on the image, it will take you to my website where you can see this file and many others to help make this unit exciting for your students!

Christmas Around the World Picture Books

What a week... and it's only TUESDAY!

Yesterday my school's town lost power for almost 2 hours... the first 30-minutes everything in my end of the building was flickering off and on every minute or so, so we just turned the lights off and used one of the only things in my room that was working- my overhead projector, for a light source! We got out a flashlight to use in the bathroom and had just resigned ourselves to an afternoon with limited power when, finally, it just went OUT totally and I taught in the dark for another hour or so! It was actually kind of cute to see my students huddled around the windows to do their writing... :)

Today we made our November "Snazzy Snack" which was pumpkin pie in a bag. WOW. It was so tasty!

I can't even think ahead to tomorrow, but Thursday is a movie in the morning for the kids who tripled or quadded their AR goals for the 1st marking period and Friday we're having a read-in for the day... I'm off all next week! :)

So, today I just wanted to share with you the books that I use for my Christmas Around the World unit. I do get a lot of e-mails about this, and most of them you can easily find by searching for the title, but a few others are a little more un-obvious... so here they are!

Day 1- any The Night Before Christmas. I use this cool pop-up book: 

Day 2- The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie daPaola

Day 5- Wombat Divine by Mem Fox

Day 6- Christmas Tree! by Wendell and Florence Minor- this book doesn't necessarily pertain to Germany, but I love it because it shows all these different "trees" and how each one is special to the people/animals/etc... in the illustrations

I also have the book Christmas Around the World by Mary D. Lankford that I read bits of and use as a great resource. I'd highly recommend it! This author has many other "____ Around the World" books... I'd love to check out her others!


I also have a book I got for Christmas when I was about 6 years old called My Special Christmas. By now, it has been taped together by my mom a million times and the pages are brown and wrinkly, but it stars me, my sister (Michelle), and our dog (Max) as we travel around the world, meeting "Santa" figures from many different countries. At each stop, we get a large letter. At the end of the story, we end up at the North Pole where Santa arranges the letters to spell the word "PEACE", which is his wish for "every boy and girl, and their parents too, in the whole world". I always read that to my kiddos during this too... that book is just CHRISTMAS to me! :)

Ok- I hope that helps! I plan to be back later this week with something useful for your classroom! :)

New Christmas Around the World Freebie!

Today I'm off in Christmastown (aka- Frankenmuth) so I thought this would be a great day to unveil the newest addition to my Christmas Around the World unit, which is available on my website.

Almost everything for the unit (including the unit plan) are free! I wanted to incorporate more opportunities for writing, so the newest addition is a venn diagram and two different kinds of writing paper for students to write about their own holiday traditions compared to that of another country. The image below will take you to my site where you can see the venn diagram and other other items I've developed for the unit! If you have anything else you'd like to see for the unit, let me know. I really want to make it more comprehensive, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I hope you enjoy the resources! Happy Holiday-around-the-world-ing! :)

Attention Pinners: I need help!

Update: It's working now! But if you'd like to see my problem from earlier, read on!

Update on the update! I just went to start looking for some things on Pinterest and now the search box is gone AGAIN! So do feel free to continue reading at this time! I'll continue to do updates on my updates if it starts working again!

Ok. I'm no Pinterest Expert so I need help!

For some reason, I can't search for anything today! What am I doing wrong?! I want to look up some Thanksgiving projects to go with a writing for next week and there's no SEARCH box!

Also... if you didn't enter my Strega Nona giveaway or share your ideas for my Christmas Around the World unit, please do! :)

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, you can click below!

Thanks for your tech support!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!

I'm looking to add some things to my "Christmas Around the World" unit. Most of the unit is available for free on my classroom website on the a new page with just Christmas Around the World stuff. I was thinking about doing a postcard for each country... and maybe some type of graphic organizer to help foster some writing...? Any suggestions for things to add to the unit? Leave me a comment if you come up with anything!